Monday, June 26, 2017

Did the FBI retaliate against Michael Flynn by launching Russia probe?

Via Billy


The FBI launched a criminal probe against former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn two years after the retired Army general roiled the bureau’s leadership by intervening on behalf of a decorated counterterrorism agent who accused now-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe and other top officials of sexual discrimination, according to documents and interviews.
Flynn’s intervention on behalf of Supervisory Special Agent Robyn Gritz was highly unusual, and included a letter in 2014 on his official Pentagon stationary, a public interview in 2015 supporting Gritz’s case and an offer to testify on her behalf. His offer put him as a hostile witness in a case against McCabe, who was soaring through the bureau’s leadership ranks.

More @ CIRCA

WOW! NC: 1956 Ford Victoria


Feds Spend $20,000 on Musical About Illegal Immigrant Lesbian

Via Billy

U.S.-Mexico border fence

Socialist theater group has received $461,000 from the NEA

The National Endowment for the Arts is spending $20,000 for a musical about a lesbian illegal immigrant who is in love with an ICE agent.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe, a self-described socialist theater group, received the funding in the first round of grants awarded under the Trump administration. Jane Chu is the current chairman of the NEA, who was appointed by former president Barack Obama in 2014.

The musical is entitled "WALLS!" and stars a "bad hombre," mocking a phrase used by Trump to describe criminal illegal aliens during a presidential debate.

Anti-Trump Leak Campaign Damaging U.S. and Allied Operations

Via Billy

Donald Trump

U.S. official: Leaks of classified info by former Obama officials endanger American security operations

A new wave of leaks targeting the Trump administration has actively endangered ongoing intelligence and military operations being conducted by the United States and its allies, sparking anger and concern inside and outside the White House, according to multiple conversations with senior U.S. officials intimately familiar with the situation.

The classified leaks, which are being handed to sympathetic journalists by former Obama administration officials who left the government and by holdovers still serving in the Trump administration, have damaged a number of ongoing operations, ranging from American efforts to prevent Russian infiltration of the United States to Israeli efforts against ISIS, sources said.

SC Decides Not To Take Up CCW Case: Clarence Thomas Issues Strong Rebuke

Via Billy

Image result for Clarence Thomas Issues Strong Rebuke

Second Amendment advocates stung by the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up a closely watched gun rights case vowed Monday to pursue litigation as long as it takes to get the justices to affirm the right to carry a firearm outside the home.

The court opted Monday not to hear Peruta v. California, letting stand a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a California law requiring a gun owner to show “good cause” in order to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. The state law left the authority to decide what constitutes “good cause” up to local authorities such as sheriffs or police chiefs.

Gun owner Edward Peruta, of San Diego County, brought the case after he sought to carry concealed firearms for self-defense but was denied a concealed carry license in 2009 because he was unable to show good cause.

BMW Announces $600 Million Investment Into South Carolina Plant

Via Billy

The BMW logo is seen on the hood of a finished X4 at the BMW manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. (REUTERS/Chris Keane)

German-based automaker BMW announced Monday it would invest $600 million in its Spartanburg, S.C., plant between 2018 and 2021.

The announcement comes as the company celebrates 25 years of operation at the South Carolina location. The attendance of South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham underlined the importance of BMW to the Palmetto state’s economy.

BMW’s Spartanburg plant is its largest in the world, employing more than 9,000 workers. The new investment will add 1,000 jobs, according to the company, adding to what is already one of the state’s largest employers.

Newt Gingrich: The numbers don't lie, Mueller is hunting

Via Billy

Image result for Newt Gingrich: The numbers don't lie, Mueller is hunting

Robert Mueller is continuing to fill his presidential hunting expedition with liberal lawyers.

On Monday, the National Law Review reported that Elizabeth Prelogar has joined Mueller's team to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 election. Prelogar is an attorney in the Office of the Solicitor General who, campaign records show, has given a combined $750 to campaigns or supporting organizations for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

But Prelogar's donations pale in comparison to rest of the team Mueller is assembling. Mueller has only revealed seven of the 13 attorneys, but those named include four partisan lawyers who have collectively donated nearly $50,000 to Democratic candidates since 2004, while only giving $2,750 to Republicans.

Last week, I wrote that this pattern of partisan political giving by the investigative team shows the entire inquiry into supposed Russian influence is a thinly veiled offensive against the Trump presidency.

On Civilizing Mankind

Via Billy

 

Whether you believe that Western Civilization is dead, or only in a state of irreversible entropy, it should be evident that much of our culture no longer serves the interests of human beings. The major cause, which may lead to the extinction of our species, is found in our willingness to identify with abstractions which, by their very nature, reside beyond ourselves. Whether we find our identities in our race, gender, age, ideologies and other belief systems, nationality, economic interests, political parties, social/political causes, or other products of our thinking, we divide ourselves from one another and generate conflict. My book, Calculated Chaos: Institutional Threats to Peace and Human Survival, elaborated upon how we create institutions, through which we organize ourselves based upon our identities. Because the existence of institutions depends upon these divisions, their interests require the constant creation of conflicts that are so destructive to the lives of human beings.

Is it possible for us to learn to live in other ways? We are social creatures for whom organizing with others is both necessary and beneficial. But on what basis do we organize?  Because of the “division of labor” principle, Robinson Crusoe and Friday could each live more productive lives by exchanging their surpluses with one another, than if each tried to be isolated and “self-sufficient.” Why is this so? Might there be some underlying factor that facilitates this.

More @ LRC

'Our population doesn't look like all white guys': Canada's military tries to rebrand as ultra-inclusive’

Via Billy


Canada’s military is going all out to erase its reputation for intolerance and misogyny, aiming to recast itself instead as welcoming to Canadians of all races, religions and sexual orientations.

The effort — driven by several factors, including a need to bolster its dwindling numbers — includes a comprehensive effort to connect with and recruit women, new citizens and even members of the LGBT community.

The Trudeau government’s plan to invest an extra $62 billion in the military over the next 20 years includes hiring 3,500 more full-time personnel and 1,500 part-time reservists, numbers that would bring the ranks of the Forces to their highest level since the end of the Cold War.

The AP Gets It Wrong…Again

 

In a recent column for the Associated Press, entitled “Old South monument backers embrace Confederate Catechism”, writer Jay Reeves opines that that those of us who seek to remember the Confederacy and Southern culture are reading from a different history book than the rest of the “nation”. He acknowledges that “indeed they are”, and then references the “decades old” Confederate Catechism written by Lyon G. Tyler, son of former President John Tyler. Reeves is astonished by the audacity of Southern historians, and Southern people in general, who would reject “today’s scholarship”.

Mr. Reeves’ writes in a style that is typical of modern era “journalists”, which is to say there is a lot of finger pointing and innuendo going on, but very little actual research. He, not so covertly, calls out the Sons of Confederate Veterans for defending “rebel” monuments, and chastises the United Daughters of the Confederacy for having the temerity to enact “programs to educate children on its version of Southern history”. (emphasis added)

What one will find in this article is very little intellectual content, an elementary level of investigation, and no actual journalism. It’s a mere opinion piece forwarded by someone who, frankly, does not possess a very informed opinion on the subject that he chose to tackle.

Flashback: Robert Mueller Recused Himself in 2006 When Involved in Case with Acquaintance

Via Billy


Earlier this month FOX News legal expert Gregg Jarrett insisted Robert Mueller should disqualify himself from special counsel due to his longtime relationship with James Comey.
Gregg Jarrett said Mueller must recuse himself.

Gregg Jarrett: If you look at the special counsel statute it says you cannot serve as special counsel if you have a personal relationship with someone who is central to the case. If this Washington Post story is true, it’s now Trump against Comey. Comey is now the star witness, the key witness against Trump. Well, guess what? Comey and Mueller are longtime close personal friends, partners, allies.

They were joined at the hip at the DOJ and FBI. It’s a mentor-protege relationship. How is this fair to Donald Trump because Mueller is now going to decide whether to believe his good friend or the man who fired his good friend?

This is the kind of stuff over which lawyers get disbarred. If (he) does not resign then Rod Rosenstein out to (should) fire Mueller.

How College Can Ruin Your Life

Via Billy


                                                                                                
 Jackie Krowen made a big mistake.

It only took a couple clicks of the mouse…but she’ll be paying for it for the rest of her life.

She racked up more than $150,000 in student loan debt to become a nurse. The average nurse in the U.S. earns $5,660 per month. After taxes and living expenses, Jackie barely scrapes by.

Jackie is the security for her loan. She can’t get rid of it. She can’t hide from it. She also can’t ever pay it off.

She says it ruined her life.
                                                                More @ Casey Research

Study: Seattle's $13 Minimum Wage Led To Drop Of $1,500 In Income For Low-Wage Earners

Via Billy


Remember that time Seattle’s socialist city council member Kshama Sawant pressed for the city to increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour? I actually debated Sawant on the issue; I asked her if she would be in favor of raising the wage to $1,000 per hour. She misdirected from the issue.

Seattle actually ended up embracing $13 per hour, raising the minimum wage from $9.47 in 2014 to $11 in 2015 to $13 in 2016 under the theory that an increase wouldn’t throw people out of work, wouldn’t encourage part-time hiring, and would inflate salaries enough to allow more affordability in the Seattle housing market.

Jewish Elementary School Faces Closure for Not Teaching Kids About Gender Reassignment

Via Billy


A private school for Orthodox Jewish girls aged three to eight faces closure because pupils are not taught about homosexuality or gender reassignment.

The Vishnitz Girls School, in north London, does not give pupils “a full understanding of fundamental British values” according to a report by

the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Schools (Ofsted).

The report claimed girls “are not taught explicitly about issues such as sexual orientation. This restricts pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and does not promote equality of opportunity in ways that take account of differing lifestyles.”

As a result of its defiant stance in refusing to bow to state pressure, the school failed its Ofsted inspection for the third time since February 2016.

More @ Heat Street

MSNBC Obsessed With Russia - 56 Mentions in 1 Hour

Via Billy


Supreme Court to hear case of baker's refusal to make wedding cake for gay couple

Via Billy

United States Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it will hear the case of a suburban Denver baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple on faith-based grounds, in the latest religious freedom case to be considered before the nation's highest court.

Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, had refused to sell a customized cake for a gay couple's union, claiming a religious exemption to the state's anti-discrimination law.

State courts had ruled against the businessman.

More @ Fox

Indiana College Fires Three White Employees for Posing on Parody Rap Album Cover

Via Cousin Colby

 

PC will be the death of us all.  Insane!

Indiana’s Grace College and Seminary has fired three employees after they dressed up as rappers for a spoof album cover.

On June 2, the college’s marketing department held a weekly theme day for its employees, dubbed “wrap day”. People were encouraged to wear rapper clothing.

Getting into the spirit of things, five employees posed for the parody rap album cover.

More @ Heat Street

Unanimous Supreme Court decision Allows Travel Ban To Take Effect

Via Billy


The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will review lower court rulings blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive order on refugee and migrant entry, and stayed injunctions barring the order’s enforcement.

The announcement is a major victory for the president, whose signature immigration policy has been stymied repeatedly by the federal courts.

The justices consolidated two travel ban cases from the 4th and 9th Circuits, and scheduled oral arguments for the first session of the Court’s next term, which begins in October. They also partially vacated several lower court injunctions barring enforcement of the order’s travel ban provision, which prohibits the entry of foreign nationals from six countries with high instances of terrorism.